Excuses, excuses...

So I know I have been terrible with posts lately, but there are exciting ones that I'm working on. Don't worry, you don't have to wait too much longer! {oh and I'm trying out new designs for the blog itself!}

{things to come...}

Avocado Addiction

I found a blog post last week about grilled avocados with a fresh tomato salad on top, and since I love just about everything with avocados I decided to make it.

Here is the how to {with a few adjustments on my part}

Ingredients:

Avocados

Lemon

Cherry Tomatoes

Fresh Basil

Mozzarella Cheese

Pine Nuts

Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper

{fresh ingredients}

Chop up the cherry tomatoes, basil,  and mozzarella and combine them in a bowl with the pine nuts. Slice the avocados and lemon in half and place them face down on the grill (I used the oven since I don't have a grill). Cook until the avocados have grill marks and the lemons are slightly caramelized.

{if you do this in the oven, just cook until the avocado is warm all the way through}

{salad goodness}

Toss the tomatoes and basil salad mix with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then pour it all on top of the grilled avocados. Top with some lemon juice and enjoy!

{YUM!}

Pumpkin Goodness Part 1

Is there anything better than pumpkin? No, no there is not. And that is why in honor of Fall quickly approaching (I hope) I have begun to bake with my favorite ingredient. 

I found this recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies a few years ago and it really is one of the best pumpkin recipes I have found. The flavors work really well together so that nothing is too overwhelming. Here are some picture...I highly recommend you try the recipe, IT'S AMAZING!

{some ingredients}

{just mixing some butter and sugar...delicious!}

{mmm...pumpkin puree}

{I know you're not supposed to eat raw cookie dough, but this stuff is SO good}

{Happy Fall!}

Craft Bag

 I don't usually like having to carry a bag with me everywhere, so I don't exactly have a large collection. Which means that when I actually need something, I don't always have something that matches whatever I am wearing. So I decided to make my own clutch that would go with just about everything. Genius, right?

Materials:

Clutch (I got one from American Apperal...this one is suede)

Tape

Acrylic Paint

{tape off sections for each color}

{pick your paint colors, I chose black and gold}

{paint in first color, allow to dry, and then tape off for the next color}

{make sure that the paint is fairly even and smooth...which can be a little tricky with suede}

{fin!}

Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies

There is nothing better than a home baked treat on your birthday. 

I usually try to bake birthday treats that cater to someone's taste. One of my co-workers is very health conscious and loves everything quinoa so I figured, why not try some quinoa cookies. After a little research I found this recipe for Peanut Butter Quinoa cookies...here goes nothing.

{I know what you're thinking "really, quinoa?"...I was skeptical as well}

{cooked quinoa and rolled oats}

{mmm, honey}

{make sure to mix everything really well so there aren't clumps of peanut butter}

{don't forget to flatten the cookies before baking...I forgot, oops}

{finished cookie!}

These cookies were pretty tasty, especially for being so healthy. But I'm not going to lie, I still love me some butter and sugar in my cookies!

Smells like flowers...paper flowers

I just recently went to my 10 year high school reunion in Miami (CRAZY!). 

Since I don't actually have the ability to say "no" when asked by a friend to help out with something, I was suckered into doing all of the decorations. (Ok, I wasn't suckered into it...I may have offered my services. Yes, I'm just that nice of a person.) 

Because there wasn't a huge budget for the reunion, I had to figure out how to make the room look good, while spending close to nothing. I decided to re-use all of the glasses and jars that were used for the floral arrangements for my sister's wedding, and instead of real flowers I made paper flowers out of newspaper. I think it was fairly successful, minus being up all night making 100 flowers the night before the reunion. Oh the things I do to myself...

Materials:

Newspaper

Scissors

Tape

Wire

Floral Tape

First, cut the newspaper into petal shapes. Then wrap the wires with floral tape, this will help the newspaper and tape to stay attached to the wire.

Take each paper petal and wrap the bottom around the wire. With a small piece of tape, tape the petal down.

The flowers look great even with as little as 3 petals...

{they definitely look better in a cluster!}

{all set up!}

I'm sure the room would have looked a lot better if I had time to make more flowers...oh well, next time! 

The Wall Grid

And we're back...

with a new apt, new roommates, and a new computer! What can I say, it's already been a busy month.

As I was unpacking and figuring out where to hang all of my art, I realized that I was a little bored of the pieces I typically hang in my room. I came across this blog post on one of my favorite blogs, DesignLoveFest, and thought...hey, that's a great idea. So...I decided to make a photo grid for my wall with fun origami mattes and some of my photos.

{origami paper collaged with metallic mesh}

{best part about cutting the squares in the mattes...mini stationary!}

{ta-dah...photo grid wall!}

TAKING A BREAK...

Taking a break from posting to go on vacation and until my new computer arrives in a few weeks...happy vacation!

SIMPLE SUMMER SALADS

Keeping with my latest attempt to learn to cook, I made two new summer salad recipes this week. Here are the recipes and some pictures.

Black Eyed Peas Salsa Recipe:

1 can black eyed peas

1 green pepper, chopped

1 small red onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Pour black eyed peas into a colander to rinse them. Set aside to dry. In a medium bowl combine all of the ingredients and enjoy!

{so good in a wrap too!}

Cucumber Salad Recipe:

2 cups diced cucumbers

2 cups diced tomatoes

1 cup red onion diced

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1/2 tbsp mint

2 tbsp chopped kalmata olives

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

juice from 1/2 medium lemon

sea salt

Chop all veggies and combine them with parsley, mint and olives. Mix the dressing and pour it over the veggies, salt to taste.

{I think I could eat this one all day long}

ENJOY!

GAZPACHO

So my new summer goal is to learn how to cook...and by that I mean more than just being about to saute some veggies in a frying pan and put them over rice or pasta. To start off my cooking adventures I decided to make gazpacho. It is cold, fresh, healthy, and doesn't require actual cooking. 

After searching for good recipes for about an hour, I decided to make a hybrid of a few that I found. Here is the recipe and a few pictures! 

Ingredients:

6 ripe tomatoes, peeled, cored, and chopped

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 red onion, diced

1 red pepper, seeded and chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 tbsp diced parsley

2 tbsp diced fresh chives

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tsp sugar

tobasco sauce, to taste

salt and pepper to taste

4 cups tomato juice

Begin by cutting an x at the bottom of the tomatoes and dropping them into a large pot of boiling water for about 15 seconds. Then immediately place them in an ice bath to cool. (This will make is really easy to peel the skin off the tomatoes.) Then, chop all of the ingredients and using a food processor combine them to achieve your desired texture. 

{It takes awhile to chop everything, it is definitely worth seeding everything to eliminate excess water}

Add the liquid ingredients, tobasco, salt and pepper to taste.

{I highly recommend having some fresh bread to dip as well!}

ENJOY!

APPLE PIE

For the last few years I have always had a special birthday request from my (now) brother-in-law, and that was for me to bake him an apple pie. So in keeping with tradition, I made him an apple pie this weekend when I was down in Baltimore. (Luckily the whole family was there to enjoy it as well!)

The first time I attempted to make an apple pie, I found this Martha Stewart Apple Pie Recipe. I must say, it is so easy and so tasty...even the pie crust recipe is super easy to make, and so much better than store-bought pie crust. 

And since I can't take credit for the recipe...here are some pictures of the process! 

Enjoy!

{making the pie crust}

{peeling and chopping the apples...I use 6-7 apples instead of the recipe's 12}

{filling the pie}

{ready to bake}

{fresh from the oven}

{mmm...always better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream}